Galactic Bug Invasion (Working Title) - I figured a classic arcade-inspired game would be easiest for me to crank out in The Games Factory 1.07! I still have to figure out the details on how the game will actually work, but I'm thinking maybe a similar take to centipede or space invaders with waves of insects coming at you, and including different types of powerups (as there's a ton of free included sprites in TGF/klik n play for that sort of thing)

I thought I'd also throw in a little classic shmup vibe of having different kinds of ships each with its own weapon and speed settings (though I'll be adding those in later as well!)

I do have an actual gameplay screen set up, but I still have to add in the enemies and stuff so there's not a lot to show off of that just yet.

OK so far I have all three ships programmed to move and fire in all eight directions, hopefully next update is some sort of enemies and AI update, and adjusting each ship's speed and rate of fire after that!

I used a similar trick to another game I wrote previously, 'OM NOM NOM' basically if you're familiar with Telesys Games' 2600 title Fast Food, it was basically a tribute to that game.

The trick was I would 'shoot an object' across the screen and that's how I got the food to fly across the screen in that game, so I copied the same idea and used it in this game for the fleas (the only enemy I have working at the moment) ... when I implement the other insects though I may mix it up make them with more complex patterns (and thus be worth more points similar in style to Centipede.

Also still missing are sound effects and maybe music to go with the ship select screen, also collision detection and resetting the playfield after a lost life.

Incidentally each ship now moves and fires at a different speed. The Flying Beetle is like a tank, but its giant laser shot, while slow will eliminate anything in its way. The Space Falcon is small and fast, it fires fast arrow-shaped lasers at its enemies. The Angel Fighter is the well-rounded middle of the road ship, faster than the Flying Beetle but still outmanuvered by the Space Falcon, though its twin lasers are just as deadly!

Instead of stopping your ship at the edge of the screen, I figured out I could implement a 'wrap' feature similar to asteroids, so now your ship will just loop around when it leaves the screen. It won't have the realistic physics of asteroids though, so keep that in mind.

Also I'm trying to implement a 'health' system, where the heavy ship gets 3 hits before it dies, the medium ship takes 2, and the little ship dies in a single hit. still have to work out the actual bugs in that, though. (or hey I could leave them in, LOL.... nah I should really try to fix that actually )

I do almost have the lives system in place... although when you die as the 1-hit Space Falcon, it creates a clone of it that will follow your ship around for some reason.... still have to figure out why THAT bug is happening, but things are progressing smoothly otherwise!

Aside from that, still left to implement:- Sounds/music- The AI for the other insects- Need to find some kinda space backdrop so you're not just looking at a black background the entire time- Probably will come up with some neat easter eggs too if I have time

Added a 2nd enemy, this one travels down the screen vertically from a random position off-screen, he's a little faster than the regular bee enemies, so he's worth more points. I also started a proper 'game over' screen, although I tried to add a "percentage" counter similar to Galaga and 1942 for comparing shot percentage, but I couldn't get the math right so I dropped it.

I think the last thing I need to implement are the Scorpion enemies and the shield powerup, and maybe one or two more sound effects.

Crossed off the first of two shield powerups and put it in the game, tried to space it out so it only shows up once in a while after shooting a few enemies, and you can't go past a certain limit for a full shield (2 for the weak ship, 3 for the medium one and 4 for the heavy ship)

I think from here on is the last of the enemies and maybe some small clips of music, but other than that the rest of the game is done and ready to go!

Crunch time! I'm actually pretty close to finishing, just have to add in the large energy recharge and it should be ready for prime time! I did encounter a bug with the fast ship, but i'm half tempted to just leave it in. >:P